Hartlepool has come together across the generations in a special project to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and celebrate the freedom we’ve enjoyed since then.
Hartlepool Borough Council’s Community Hubs were one of 60 libraries and arts centres around the country chosen to take part in ‘Our Freedom: Then and Now’ - a £2 million national programme of creative events.
Over the past six months local people of all ages have been taking part in community-led artistic projects to explore the legacy of VE Day and VJ Day and what freedom means to them.
This fascinating and poignant initiative reaches its peak with two very special events over the next few weeks.
On Wednesday 29 October, 200 local people will be taking part in ‘Hartlepool Remembers: 80 Years of Freedom and Family Fun’ at the Heugh Battery Museum on the Headland.
This free, limited-ticket event – all tickets for which have now been snapped up through the Community Hubs – will feature wartime re-enactments, an opportunity for people to have their wartime memorabilia assessed by experts, ceramics and pottery sessions and poetry workshops.
The event has been organised by the Council in partnership with the Heugh Battery Museum, Hartlepool veterans and local community groups.
Then next month there’s a chance for everyone to enjoy the results of the community projects when they are showcased in a special exhibition - Our Freedom: Then and Now – at Community Hub Central in York Road from 3 to 29 November.
The Our Freedom: Then and Now events are a Future Arts Centres and Libraries Connected initiative, which is supported by the UK Government through Arts Council England.
Councillor Gary Allen, Chair of the Council’s Adult and Community-Based Services Committee, said: “These events are not only an opportunity to remember the servicemen and women, and the residents on the Home Front, who endured so much to win the freedom that we now enjoy, but also to reflect on what that precious peace and freedom means to us today.
“Above all, they are also an opportunity for people of all backgrounds and ages to come together and celebrate everything that makes Hartlepool such a very special place to live and be proud of.
“A big ‘thank you’ to Arts Council England for giving us the opportunity to be part of this fantastic national event.”